but all my roads lead back to you
by aisu10
Summary: Tony needs to know that Bruce will always find his way home.


"So, Bruce, would it be okay if I put a tracking device in the back of your neck?" Tony asks as he and Bruce are working in his lab together. They're developing a new type of force-field technology for the SHIELD helicarrier and they've been at it for a few days now, subsisting on coffee and whatever take-out Pepper brings them each night.

Bruce looks up from the tablet he is doing calculations on and tugs his glasses off so he can stare over at Tony across the room.

"Are you serious?" he asks, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Uh, yeah. Completely serious," Tony says, blinking back at Bruce. He puts down the prototype gadget he was tinkering with and puts his hands on his hips.

Bruce's smile fades away and he sighs, already exasperated from thinking of all the arguing it will take to talk Tony down from his new 'brilliant' idea. As he slides his folded glasses into his pocket he replies, "No, Tony. It would not be okay."

"Why not?" Tony asks, and he's not exactly whining yet but Bruce knows it's coming.

"First of all, it's an invasion of privacy, and I'd prefer to keep what little privacy I have. Second, it's a liability. It could easily be used against me, and the entire team."

"_Easily?_ You doubt the genius of Stark Technology," Tony replies with mock offense, ignoring the rest of Bruce's argument.

"As infallible as you think your tech is, Tony, everything can be hacked," Bruce tells Tony seriously.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"When you see it, it'll be too late."

"Just hear me out, Bruce?"

Bruce sighs again, crossing his arms over his chest. "Go on."

"Well, you know how the Other Guy has that habit of running off after a battle?" Tony begins as he slowly walks closer and closer to Bruce across the room, "And we've always got to go on a wild Hulk chase to find you and bring you home once you transform? If we could track you we could be there in minutes. It'd be so much more efficient. I know we've tried external tracking devices before but even our stretchiest wristbands keep breaking, and, well... if the device was _inside_ you we wouldn't have that problem. Therefore, back of the neck."

Tony taps the spot on his own neck for emphasis and stops walking when he's face to face with Bruce. "What do you think?"

"No, Tony," Bruce responds with a wry smile, "Still no."

"Fine." Tony rolls his eyes, then gives Bruce a wild grin as he hooks his fingers in the belt loops of the doctor's high-waisted pants, pulling him closer. "Would it be okay if I kissed you?"

Bruce's smile doesn't falter. Tony has been 'subtly' trying to woo Bruce for weeks, making small passes here and there, but Bruce hasn't faltered once. Not missing a beat, Bruce chides, "What would Pepper think?"

"She suggested it, actually."

Bruce shakes his head, putting his hands over Tony's and gently removing them from his waist.

"Come on, at least think about it?" Tony pleads, giving Bruce his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, I'll think about it," Bruce tells him with an edge of sarcasm, retrieving his glasses from his pocket at returning them to his nose in a gesture that means _conversation over_. Tony pouts and then turns on his heel to get back to his prototype, but he stops mid-stride and looks back at Bruce.

"Bruce," he says purposefully, in a rare moment of seriousness, "Think about the tracker, too. We don't want to lose you."

And then there's a pause, and his voice cracks slightly as he admits, "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Bruce says, picking up his tablet again.

"That doesn't mean _he_ isn't."

"You're smothering me, Tony," Bruce chuckles, and gets back to work.

xxx

"Tony, get out of there!"

It's Rhodey's voice and it's being transmitted through JARVIS directly into the suit. Tony ignores him and keeps flying on and on, looking for any sign of Bruce's big green alter-ego. See, that tracking device would really come in handy right now. The battle hasn't even _ended_and he's already lost track of The Hulk. You wouldn't think it would be so easy to lose a guy the size of ten but it _is_, it really fucking is. Tony dodges fire from yet another Hammeroid and flies interminably on.

Turns out General Ross was tired of being denied access to Bruce so he somehow got a hold of the Hammeroid design that Vanko had come up with a while ago and had them bulked up and re-engineered into his own personal army of Hulk-hunters. Said Fury shouldn't had too much power and he 'shouldn't be _allowed_ to keep such a powerful weapon away from the army'. Same shit the Senate put down Tony's throat when he wouldn't relinquish the Iron Man suit to the government - except, as much as Tony likes to say that he and the suit are one, Bruce and the Hulk _really are_ one, and the Hulk is _certainly_ less easy to control and contain than a suit. The repurposed Hammeroids everywhere, now, and even War Machine, who fought the original Hammeroids with Tony, had to step in to help stop them.

They had tried to prevent Bruce from entering the battlefield but the Hulk's will to fight his mortal enemy was too strong for Bruce to suppress. Everyone had been protecting him and keeping a close eye on him until a huge explosion had wrecked a nearby building and it had come tumbling down on them all. In their haste to escape the wreckage they'd lost sight of the Hulk. Tony had gone after him, of course. He wasn't about to lose Bruce to that major asshole Ross.

Another Hammeroid pops up in front of Tony and he blasts it away with both repulsors before shooting straight up in the air to survey the battlefield for the Hulk. A flash of green catches his eye and he grins, zooming back down to hover beside his enormous friend.

"Doing alright, buddy?" he asks. They're standing in the meeting point of four streets, and the Hulk is panting like an animal as he looks around for a 'bot to smash.

"Iron One go. Hulk smash robots alone."

"No can do, big guy. I just flew around half the city looking for you. I'm gonna stay and help you fight."

The Hulk glares up at Tony and explains in his low, gruff voice that sounds nothing like Bruce's wry sarcasm, "Ross want Hulk. Not Iron One. Iron One go, be safe. Hulk stay here, smash."

"I know you're trying to protect me but I promise, I can help you -"

"Iron One go!" Hulk roars, smashing the ground hard and causing a crack to travel down the street towards an approaching Hammeroid, which crashes to the pavement. Tony ignores the Hulk's order and fires his repulsors at the fallen Hammeroid, blowing it to bits.

"See, I can help!" Tony says enthusiastically as he turns to face the Hulk in mid air. The Hulk's expression changes from a look of grudging acceptance to one of shock and he suddenly smacks Tony out of the air and into a nearby building with one of his massive hands just as a huge and blast of power lights up the air where Iron Man had been floating seconds before. Tony crashes to the ground _hard_, and his chest feels like it's on_fire_ as his heads-up display shorts out. The last thing he sees is The Hulk facing off against a Hammeroid that's at least twice as large as any Tony's ever fought, and everything turns white just before he blacks out.

xxx

Pepper insisted that they have an Avengers-exclusive hospital installed on the bottom floor of the rebuilt Stark Tower just in case of emergencies. She thought it was a good idea because Tony could never be bothered to go to a public hospital after a battle and having one in his home was really the best way to convince him that it would be no trouble to go get a check-up after being blown up a couple of times. Turns out it really does have a use, because Tony is in it right now.

Tony awakens to white sheets and the steady beeping of the EKG. When he first opens his eyes the room swims before him and he closes them again for a moment before tentatively trying again. This time he can see, sort of, and he looks around the empty room, taking in the IV in his arm and the machines monitoring his brainwaves and heartbeat on either side of him. A couple of less conventional cords lead to his arc reactor and are connected to a nearby computer where JARVIS is keeping track of its electrical and magnetic output. His chest still hurts and he's got a massive headache but from what he can see, all of his vitals are fine, so he wonders why he's still in the hospital. He sees a button by his right hand that will call a nurse and presses it, hoping he can get back to the team soon and make sure everyone else is okay.

Tony is beyond thankful when instead of a nurse, Pepper enters a few minutes after his call. Her eyes look red around the edges, likely more from stress or lack of sleep than from tears, but otherwise she looks fine and happy to see that he's awake.

"Pep," Tony says as she walks in, his voice rather hoarse, "Did we win? Where is everyone? Where's Bruce?"

"Yes, we won. General Ross is in custody. First thing's first; how're you feeling?" Pepper asks gently, and it's infuriating to Tony because _she only answered one question_.

"I'm _fine_, Pep, tell me what happened to -"

"You came in with a minor concussion," Pepper explains as she pulls up a chair at his bedside, ignoring his question yet again, "And I was told that you went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance after you sustained damage to your little night light."

"That's -" Tony begins, and glances over at the screen reading his arc reactor's specs, "-_Irrelevant_, right now, because it's clearly working just fine again." He taps on the glowing reactor impatiently but stops when the ache in his chest just intensifies.

"JARVIS said it might need a replacement soon," Pepper continues, "But you're right, you're in no immediate danger."

"_Pepper_," Tony begs, exasperated, "Will you _please_ answer my questions now?"

Pepper is quiet for a moment, taking Tony's nearest hand in her own and lacing her fingers through his. Tony swallows, and his throat is scratchy and dry and _foreboding_.

"They're all out looking for Bruce, Tony. The Hulk disappeared after the battle, and... Well, he's not making it easy for them to find him."

Tony groans, whacking his head back into the pillow and then hissing in pain. Pepper winces and reminds him, "_Concussion_, Tony. They said you aren't allowed to move for a while."

"But I need to go help..." Tony mumbles, rubbing his forehead, "...Find Bruce."

"I think they'll be fine on their own. You need to rest," Pepper tells him, and it's definitely more of an order than a suggestion. "You've been sleeping for three days, you can't just get right up and start -"

"Three days?" Tony repeats in a pained and shocked voice, "They've been looking for Bruce for _three days_?"

"Yes, Tony," Pepper sighs. "I'm sorry."

Tony lays his head back against the pillow and squeezes his eyes shut, cursing his shitty luck.

"If only he'd taken my suggestion about the tracking device," Tony groans, "They'd have brought him back by now and he'd be _safe_."

"I thought all of your tracking devices for the Hulk broke."

"Yeah, that's why this one was going to go_inside_ him."

Pepper shakes her head, a sad smile on her lips. "You and I both know he'd find that too intrusive. Your tech's already all around him - I'm sure he doesn't want it inside him, too."

"Yeah, that's kinda what he said. Something about me smothering him."

Pepper laughs a little at that. "He would say that. But don't worry, Tony. Just focus on getting better. I promise they'll bring your sexy lab partner back in one piece."

"How do you know," Tony grumbles.

"Apparently, I have more faith in your team than you do. They were able to clean up the Hammeroid mess pretty efficiently, even after you went out of commission and the Hulk ran off," Pepper says, and pats his hand, "What even happened out there?"

"Hulk tried to save me from the Mother of all Hammeroids. Smashed me into a building."

"Tough love," Pepper remarks, grimacing.

"Yeah, well. Honestly, I should have just listened to him in the first place. He told me to fuck off but I didn't, and now I'm stuck in here instead of out there looking for him."

"Mm, feels bad to realize you're not always right, doesn't it?" Pepper teases.

"_Well_," Tony retorts, "If Bruce had just listened to _me_ about the tracking device, then _no one_ would be out looking for him. So I guess we're even."

"Right, of course."

Pepper stays with him for an hour or so before she leaves to fill out some paperwork on the re-rebuilding of several Manhattan locations that were destroyed in the fight.

"No moving," she tells Tony sternly, before kissing him gently on the forehead between the sticky dots and wires attached to it. Tony asks the nurse for painkillers and falls asleep shortly after Pepper leaves.

xxx

It's night time, and the Hulk is being as quiet and stealthy as a green giant can be as he sneaks around the back-alleys of Manhattan. He's heading towards the giant glowing letters in the sky that, although he cannot read, he knows spell out the name of Tony Stark, the Iron One's puny human counterpart. He's not even sure why or how he knows that this place will be safe, but he assumes that part of puny Banner is telling him so.

There are no more robots around to smash, but traces of where he destroyed them a few days earlier are all around. Occasionally the Hulk will spot a robot-shaped hole in the ground and smile to himself at the sight, remembering the satisfying crunch of metal under his fists when he had smashed it. But then he spots a hole in a wall that reminds him of a much less victorious crunching sound and anger bubbles up inside him. He remembers telling Iron One to leave and then pushing him out of the way to save him when he was too stubborn to listen, but he had pushed him too hard. He feels very guilty about hurting Iron One, even though it was Iron One's fault for not listening. Hulk wished he could help his friends without hurting them. His guilt in the aftermath of the fight was what had caused him to run so far away from the city, so that he could smash trees and rocks in his frustration. Hulk feels the guilt even now, a puny emotion that makes him want to smash _more_, but Hulk uses every ounce of control in his enormous green body to prevent himself from going on another rampage. Right now it is very important that he gets to Iron One's tower.

Eventually he is standing under the big bright light that is Iron One's name and when he sees no way in he lifts a fist to smash the glass door, but before he can bring it down a voice says, "Welcome home, Dr. Banner," and the door opens itself.

Hulk looks around, confused, and steps into the empty building cautiously. Though he cannot see the person who spoke, the words _welcome home_ continue to float around in his head, causing him to furrow his brow.

"Not puny Banner," he rumbles slowly, still searching for the source of the voice, "Hulk."

"My apologies, Mr. Hulk," the invisible person responds, "Mr. Stark has put in my records that you and Dr. Banner have the same access privileges in the building, so I assumed you were the same person. My mistake."

"Not same," Hulk growls threateningly, "Where voice?"

"I cannot be seen, sir. I am JARVIS, the artificial intelligence that -"

"Hulk smash JARVIS!" Hulk warns in a low rumble, "Stop voice!"

"In that case, I will end our conversation immediately."

"Good," Hulk huffs as he stalks off in search of Iron One, "Puny JARVIS."

Tony feels him before he sees him. The ground shakes and Tony jolts awake, his eyes blinking in the semi-darkness. His hospital room is only illuminated by the light of his arc reactor mixed with the pale glow of the computer screens around him, but even with such little light he can see the Hulk sulking outside his glass door. He grins from ear to ear and tries to sit up, but a rush of intense dizziness temporarily blinds him and he falls back, yelling, "In here!"

He hears a crash and when his vision returns the Hulk standing in his hospital room, holding the broken door and staring down at all the shattered glass around him. Tony just laughs and says, "Come here, big guy. Forget the door, I can fix that. God, I've never been so happy to see you."

Hulk drops the door on the ground with another crash and slowly approaches Tony's bedside, and in the computers' soft glow Tony can see the Hulk's green eyes glaring at the wires and machines with a mixture of fear and, not surprisingly, anger. Tony reaches over to the lamp on the table beside him and flips it on to get a better look. The Hulk doesn't seem to have any injuries, which is great. He's just very confused, and as he turns to Tony, he almost looks a little sad as well.

"Happy see Hulk?" Hulk asks Tony, and Tony nods enthusiastically. Then he continues in a low growl, "Not just puny Banner?"

"I'm happy that you're _both_ here," Tony assures him happily, patting one of his enormous green arms.

Hulk continues to stare at the computer screens and wires, still upset. "Iron One okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tony grins even wider, as if that'll prove anything.

The Hulk considers him for a moment more, and then, apparently satisfied, he plops himself down by Tony's bedside, causing the floor to shake again.

"You came here all on your own?" Tony asks gleefully, so fucking _psyched_ that he's here, safe and sound and with Tony again. How had he even managed to get here without being seen? A giant green man walking around Manhattan's gotta raise a few eyebrows. Maybe he's got some invisibility powers that he's not telling the team about.

"Hulk bring Banner here," Hulk rumbles slowly, almost reluctantly, "Hulk bring Banner... _home_."

And Tony's completely fucking _touched_ now, and he just gazes up at the Hulk with so much affection and appreciation that he thinks he's going to cry. For once in his life, he's totally speechless.

After a long moment, Tony chokes out, "Thanks. For saving me again. And for coming back."

The Hulk nods in understanding and the two of them remain in silence until the Hulk's eyelids droop and he mumbles, his voice so low and deep that it reverberates in Tony's ribcage, "Hulk tired."

"I'd bet," Tony laughs softly.

"Hulk... Sleep."

He slumps forward, giant head resting on the side of Tony's bed, and Tony tangles a hand through thick curls that are so like Bruce's and then the Hulk is transforming, shrinking under Tony's fingertips and when he's Bruce again Tony uses all the strength he can muster to drag his semi-conscious and completely naked friend onto the bed beside him. He manages to get Bruce situated under the sheets to preserve his modesty to any intruding nurses or visitors without ripping out any of his IVs and then he wraps his arms around him and hugs him tight, planning in his head to never let him go.

"He brought me back?"

Bruce's voice is hoarse and amazed and _amazing_, and Tony laughs into his shoulder as he clutches him even tighter.

"Yeah. He did."

"I told you I didn't need the tracking device," Bruce murmurs, his breath ruffling Tony's hair. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine, you were right," Tony admits, "And I'm so glad you were."

They lay in a silence only broken by the regular beeping of the EKG which becomes considerably less regular when Bruce says, "I thought about it, and I think it'd be okay if you kissed me now."

"I knew you'd give into my charms eventually," Tony says, and turns his head to meet Bruce's warm lips in a long-awaited kiss. It's everything Tony thought it would be and more, and he's actually glad Bruce kept him hanging this long because the taste of his victory is now even sweeter. They keep it up until Tony can feel Bruce starting to fall asleep again, his breath coming out soft and slow, and Tony can't deny that he's exhausted as well. He smiles as he moves away from Bruce's face to lay his head on his chest, listening to a heartbeat that miraculously matches the rhythm of his own as transcribed by the beeping machine beside him.

And here in this moment he knows that they are _both_ home.


End file.
